Air Race

Sanford will play host to the third annual Great Southern Air Race in May, with contestants beginning the 1,000-mile trip from the Sanford-Central Florida Airport.The aviation committee of the Greater Sanford Chamber of Commerce worked with the Florida Race Pilots Association to bring the race to Sanford. Orlando was host for the 1985 race and last year it began in Marathon in the Florida Keys.Juanita Blumberg, vice president of the Florida Race Pilots Association, said Sanford could be host city for the next few years.

Fueled by hot air, a trio of Central Florida politicians will take to the skies this weekend in Volusia County. Mayors Howard Schieferdecker of Maitland, Adam Barringer of New Smyrna Beach and Ed Kelley of Ormond Beach will "race" each other in hot-air balloons in the inaugural Mayors Hot Air Challenge. "It was on my bucket list," Schieferdecker told his fellow City Council members of wanting to ride in a balloon. The air race lifts off at 6:30 a.m. Saturday at New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport, and fortunately, actual balloonists — not the mayors — will pilot the craft.

She doesn't have one of those ''I'd Rather Be Flying'' plates on her auto, but Juanita Blumberg, president of Acme Glass in Orlando, would definitely prefer to be entered in the upcoming Great Southern Air Race instead of serving as director.''There are simply too many other matters to arrange to concentrate on flying,'' said Blumberg, 44, president of the Florida Race Pilots Association Inc.A veteran cross-country flier, she was also the main propeller, so to speak, in sending forth the Great Southern last year.

RENO — Anele Brooks is one of the many who came back. A year after a vintage World War II fighter plane crashed at the annual air races here, killing 10 spectators and the pilot and injuring about 70 others, the San Luis Obispo-area woman sat in a box seat on the airport tarmac, not far from where the carnage occurred. And even now, she refused to flinch at the sky. She first came to this race in 1978, on the arm of her then-boyfriend. His friends told him back then that any date who could appreciate the beauty of those magnificent men in their flying machines was marriage material.

At 500 feet above the ground Thursday morning, the Sanford Regional Airport ramp must have looked like a model airplane builder's dream: 47 colorful single- and twin-engine planes lined up in five neat rows.The planes converged at the airport for the fourth annual Great Southern Air Race, sponsored by the Florida Race Pilots Association. The pilots are flying 1,116 miles -- making seven stops in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina before landing by 8 tonight in Spruce Creek, near Daytona Beach.

YUKON, Okla. -- A single-engine plane crashed Sunday during an air race, seriously injuring the pilot and leaving a rescuer dead, authorities said. The plane lost power and crashed shortly after noon. The pilot was airlifted to an Oklahoma City hospital and was listed in critical condition. A member of the airport's ground crew was killed when he fell from the back of a pickup racing to the scene of the crash, said John Clabes, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

For Melinda Simmons and Judie Rancourt, flying airplanes is about more than getting from one place to another. Unlike some who fly competitively, it's about more than winning and losing. The pair recently competed in the women's-only 26th annual Air Race Classic beginning in Silver City, N.M., and ending in Chesapeake-Portsmouth, Va. They came in last place, but couldn't be happier. "We were tickled to come in last, because we still got $100," Simmons said. "There were a lot of people competing with us to come in last."

RENO, NV ( KTLA ) -- The Reno National Championship Air Races are underway for the 49th annual event, despite last year's deadly crash. Ten spectators died at last year's show when pilot Jimmy Leeward lost control of his P51 Mustang and crashed into the stands. The 2012 races will feature emotional tribute ceremonies to remember and celebrate the lives of those lost as well as featuring one of the world's most advanced military aircraft. Preliminary reports indicate modifications to Leeward's airplane led to mechanical failure that likely caused the crash.

They're not quite the Flying Wallendas, but life with Shirley Zillig and Bonnie Gann has it's share of ups and downs.Zillig, 65, and Gann, 46, are a mother and daughter flying team from Merritt Island who will compete this week for $10,000 in cash and prizes in the seventh annual Great Southern Air Race.The pair will fly their twin-engine Beechcraft Bonanza in the two-day competition, which is open to stock fixed-wing 100 to 600 horsepower aircraft.The race is divided into two parts and covers about 1,000 nautical miles, starting and finishing at the River Ranch Resort in Lake Wales, with timing points at Vero Beach, Stuart, Daytona Beach, Lake City, Punta Gorda and Labelle.

Fueled by hot air, a trio of Central Florida politicians will take to the skies this weekend in Volusia County. Mayors Howard Schieferdecker of Maitland, Adam Barringer of New Smyrna Beach and Ed Kelley of Ormond Beach will "race" each other in hot-air balloons in the inaugural Mayors Hot Air Challenge. "It was on my bucket list," Schieferdecker told his fellow City Council members of wanting to ride in a balloon. The air race lifts off at 6:30 a.m. Saturday at New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport, and fortunately, actual balloonists — not the mayors — will pilot the craft.

RENO, NV ( KTLA ) -- The Reno National Championship Air Races are underway for the 49th annual event, despite last year's deadly crash. Ten spectators died at last year's show when pilot Jimmy Leeward lost control of his P51 Mustang and crashed into the stands. The 2012 races will feature emotional tribute ceremonies to remember and celebrate the lives of those lost as well as featuring one of the world's most advanced military aircraft. Preliminary reports indicate modifications to Leeward's airplane led to mechanical failure that likely caused the crash.

A year after a vintage World War II fighter fell out of the sky , killing 10 spectators and the pilot, the National Championship Air Races in Reno have resumed -- with a greater emphasis on safety. This year's version of the races -- the 49th annual edition -- kicked off this week. The event usually brings out some 200,000 spectators and is worth $80 million to the Reno area, according to the group's website. Vintage planes will be racing at speeds of 500 mph in what promoters call "The World's Fastest Motorsport.

A year after an accident at the National Championship Air Races in Reno killed 11 people and injured dozens more, officials have implemented changes that they hope will improve the safety of an event in which airplanes can reach speeds of more than 500 mph and fly as low as 50 feet above the ground. The event has been under close scrutiny since a World War II -era P-51 Mustang flown by Jimmy Leeward, a 74-year-old Florida real estate developer, plunged into the crowd , killing himself and 10 spectators.

A year after a crash killed 11 and injured more than 70, the Reno Air Racing Assn. is planning to modify its race course to keep its fastest planes away from spectators, officials said Tuesday. Association director Mike Houghton said the group will ask federal regulators for permission to shift the largest course away from the crowd and to soften some of the curves. Houghton made his announcement as a panel appointed by the group released its list of safety recommendations. The association will hold its 49th annual National Championship Air Race beginning Sept.

Looking forward to this weekend's air races in Reno, Jimmy Leeward liked his chances. "We're as fast as anybody in the field," he told an interviewer for Live Airshow TV on Thursday, "or maybe even a little faster. " Leeward, a 74-year-old Ocala pilot and real estate developer who lived for the sky, died on Friday afternoon in Nevada, when his prized P-51 Mustang racer crashed into a grandstand at the National Championship Air Races. Although the toll of the dead and injured was uncertain, a clear picture emerged of Leeward as a hard-charging, confident pilot with decades of experience at the controls of fast planes, both on the race course and in motion pictures.

YUKON, Okla. -- A single-engine plane crashed Sunday during an air race, seriously injuring the pilot and leaving a rescuer dead, authorities said. The plane lost power and crashed shortly after noon. The pilot was airlifted to an Oklahoma City hospital and was listed in critical condition. A member of the airport's ground crew was killed when he fell from the back of a pickup racing to the scene of the crash, said John Clabes, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Look! Up in the sky! It's an antique plane. It's a Harrier jet. It's a wingwalker.It must be time for Air Fair '90.The skies above Kissimmee will be filled with unique aircraft and stunt performers Oct. 27 and 28 for the 26th annual Florida State Air Fair.The two-day festival, organized and sponsored by the Rotary Club, is expected to draw more than 17,000 people to the Kissimmee Municipal Airport.''Hopefully, we are going to do a lot better than that,'' said Air Fair Chairman Turner Wallis.

PORT ORANGE -- Like many grandmas, 64-year-old Judy Bolkema-Tokar looked forward to spending her retirement years cooking and baking for her children and grandchildren. But instead of hanging around the kitchen while the pastries cool, she said she prefers to load the youngsters onto her golf cart and drive them over to her hangar at the Spruce Creek Fly-In Community for a spin in her 1999 235-horsepower Cessna 182S Skylane. Bolkema-Tokar is a licensed pilot, and according to her four -- well, make that five now -- medals, she is a pretty good one. As president of this year's Air Race Classic, a nationwide group of female pilots who fly a cross-country air race to promote women in aviation, Bolkema-Tokar is responsible for a lot more than moist cakes and flaky crusts.

For Melinda Simmons and Judie Rancourt, flying airplanes is about more than getting from one place to another. Unlike some who fly competitively, it's about more than winning and losing. The pair recently competed in the women's-only 26th annual Air Race Classic beginning in Silver City, N.M., and ending in Chesapeake-Portsmouth, Va. They came in last place, but couldn't be happier. "We were tickled to come in last, because we still got $100," Simmons said. "There were a lot of people competing with us to come in last."